Married without a trace

In 1997, Shehneela Ahmed married Furqan and had four children; their oldest a 27- year-old son, and the youngest is a daughter, 20. Five years ago, everything changed when Furqan married another woman without telling Shehneela or the children.

“We were not aware of what he was doing, and unfortunately, the only document I have was our Nikahnama,” she told The Express Tribune. “We never understood how important it is to get documentation made until my husband abandoned us one day and married another woman.” She recalled, “[Furqan] never registered any of his marriages and never updated his Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC), for me he always said why do I need CNIC and life is good without all these legalities as he calls it a hassle…”

Marriage registration is an essential legal requirement in Pakistan that gives spouses rights and protections in the event of a dispute. Second marriages, however, can pose social and legal issues, particularly when they are not formally registered with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). For the spouses and their children, not registering a second marriage may result in social problems, inheritance conflicts, and legal obstacles.

Pakistan’s marriage rules are mostly based on Islamic law and the Family Rules Ordinances. Marriages, including second marriages, are governed by the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance (MFLO) 1961. Section 6 of the MFLO states that a Muslim man who wants to get married again has to ask the Arbitration Council for authorisation and have his first wife’s approval.
Nonetheless, a large number of Pakistani men don’t follow this legal obligation and enter into second marriages without registering them. Polygamy is allowed by Islamic law under certain restrictions, but breaking these rules can put spouses and their children in hot water legally.

“Due to a lack of understanding of the subject and legalities, many couples opt for second marriages without getting all the documentation done and end up in a mess later in their lives,” said a family lawyer who works for a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) and keenly works with women’s rights and related cases. The only justification such couples bring is religion, while they have no proper understanding of the religious obligations marriages bring into their lives, be it a man or a woman, she pointed out.

Unregistered marriages don’t stop haunting the spouses nor their offspring throughout their lives. Ahmed, who has spent her life borrowing money from her brothers, cannot afford to give her children a complete education. “Now when my children want to continue their studies privately or even try to get a job, they are asked for CNIC and getting it made is another issue,” she added.

The role of NADRA

In Pakistan, NADRA is essential to the documentation of marriages. A Nikahnama, or marriage contract, is given to couples upon marriage and is subsequently recorded with the Union Council (UC). After that, a Computerised Marriage Registration Certificate (MRC), which is recognised as official marriage documentation, is issued by a UC, which shares the data with NADRA.
A second marriage needs to be registered in the same way to be recognised by law. Nevertheless, a lot of second weddings go unregistered for reasons such as ignorance of the law, fear of legal repercussions if the first wife has not consented, some religious interpretations that place more importance on the Nikahnama than on official registration, and social stigma and cultural pressures.

“There is no compulsion in the law to register a marriage in NADRA; people do it, and the data is recorded. Otherwise, NADRA itself doesn’t record any such data,” said a NADRA director on the basis of anonymity. “Citizens register their marriage in a UC, and the data is shared with us but we don’t update that data until citizens visit NADRA and get their CNIC updated. There are talks to get a system where the data should be automated and all the marriages that are registered from the UC have synchronized data with NADRA as well but it is still a far fetched idea which is not even on paper yet,” he added.

Legal provisions

A man may be subject to legal action if he enters into a second marriage without getting approval from both the Arbitration Council and his first wife. He can face a fine and a maximum one-year jail sentence under Section 6 of the MFLO. Courts have occasionally ruled that second marriages are unlawful because they violate this legislation.
The second wife in an unregistered marriage is at risk of both financial and legal instability. Because the marriage might not be recognised by law, she might have trouble claiming inheritance rights or maintenance (nafqah) in the event of a dispute.

“My husband was having a difficult marriage with his first wife when I met him four years ago. We started liking each other and after being in an affair with him for a year, I asked him to marry me. But he said he can’t leave his wife and she would not accept our marriage,” narrated Amna Azeem. She suggested to him that they get married and live separately but her husband suggested that they keep their marriage a secret and not register it either. Azeem agreed to this setup not realising what problems this could create in her life later.

“I have a two-year-old daughter, and until now, there are no documents. I gave birth to her at my parents’ house, and there is no birth certificate yet,” she lamented. Azeem worries that it will only become worse for her when she gets to school. “It took me four years to realise what a grave mistake I have made as my husband is not liable for anything, and he can just walk away anytime he likes because there is no legal paper to prove anything.”

When it comes to getting their CNICs, passports, and other identity documents, children born out of an unreported second marriage may encounter obstacles. Such children may find it difficult to establish their legal identities, which could restrict their access to civil rights such as education and employment, as NADRA demands proof of parents’ marriage to issue birth certificates and CNICs.

Cases like Azeem’s are common where women enter marriages without realizing the consequences and even in many cases knowingly as well. Even travelling internationally would be a hassle for her with the child without possession of a marriage certificate and related documents. “I am a working woman and have tried many options to get a birth certificate for my daughter but everything comes to a halt when I can’t produce marriage certificate,” Azeem explained.
Pakistan’s Islam-based inheritance rules guarantee that heirs get their just compensation. The second wife and her children, however, might have trouble in this regard as well and children could have trouble claiming their father’s assets or other properties.

“I got married two years ago; it was my second marriage. My husband accepted me with my two daughters, and we were living happily when one day I discovered that he had lied. He has a wife and three sons, but due to differences, he stopped meeting them and married me,” said 45-year-old Seemin Khan. As Khan is not educated, she never thought to get her marriage registered, and there was no Nikahnama either.

After the truth was revealed, he apologized, and for the sake of her daughters, she forgave him and continued her life, but three weeks after that, her husband passed away in cardiac arrest. “Me and my daughters were left with nothing; we couldn’t claim any right to his belongings despite the fact that he committed to me, that the house we lived in was mine, and no one can throw me out of there,” she shared, adding that his husband’s sons claimed the right on the property as she was left to live on rent.
Such scenarios have serious social and psychological issues, as well as legal ones, particularly if the marriage is kept a secret. She can experience extreme emotional suffering if the husband later contests or denies the marriage.
“I left work after the marriage. After my husband’s demise, I was back to zero with no home and nothing in hand,” said Khan.

The legal difficulties associated with unregistered second weddings are highlighted by several court proceedings in Pakistan. Due to inadequate documentation, second wives have occasionally had difficulty asserting their rights. In other cases, husbands have been punished for getting remarrying without getting consent.
The Lahore High Court upheld fines against a man who remarried without getting his first wife’s approval in a historic decision. The court underlined that safeguarding the interests of all parties involved requires adherence to the law.
In a similar vein, courts have decided in favour of those who can produce adequate proof of their father’s paternity despite the absence of formal documents in situations involving children from unregistered second marriages.

The legal conditions for second weddings need to be better understood. Public education regarding the importance of marriage registration and the legal consequences of non-compliance can be greatly aided by the government, religious authorities, and media. “There should be a system where it is to be made mandatory to register marriages, but in many cases, it is seen that the couples don’t want to register their marriages and just get the nikah done Islamically, and no papers are signed,” said the NGO family lawyer.
Because of the lengthy, time-consuming registration process, some couples choose not to register their marriage. The marriage registration process should be made easier to access by the government, especially in rural areas with low literacy rates.

To make it simpler for people to confirm their married status and for authorities to keep a check on marriage regulations, “Government level implementation to digitise marriage records is the need of the hour and they have to make the process easier than asking for several documents where one has to go again and again,” said Nauman Irfan, who had to go five times to get his marriage certificate made.

At first, he went to NADRA, and after two hours of waiting, he was told the MRC was to be issued from the UC. After two weeks of back and forth with the UC, he got the MRC and went back to NADRA for his CNIC update. That again took him three visits because nobody guided him well nor informed him what documents are required. Sometimes they asked for the parents’ CNIC, and sometimes, for their old CNICs. “Visiting these government offices is a hassle where one has to take leave from office and go, but it all is in vain when the day is wasted,” he explained.

In Pakistan, second marriage registration is a crucial matter that impacts the couple in terms of legal, social, and financial rights. Although polygamy is permitted by Islamic law in specific circumstances and with clauses, the Government of Pakistan’s laws further make it secure by making men accountable but all this is of no use until the implementation of such laws is done properly.

Significant legal and social issues are administered from unregistered second marriages, especially for women and children born out of such marriages. These problems can be resolved by enhancing the registration procedure, raising public awareness, and enforcing marriage rules more strictly.